The truth about a complex built for veterans and the middle class and how it has evolved through the years to become one of the more interesting and controversial of New York stories.

Comment Policy

All comments to posts have to await approval. Please be aware that, depending on when I'm logged onto the internet, it may take me hours, even longer, to moderate comments, so if they don't turn up in a speedy fashion, they are still in the queue. Comments that cross a line I'm not comfortable with will not get approved.

NOTE: Comments reflect the opinions of the person writing them and should not be assumed to reflect the opinion of the blog. Because of the anonymous nature of the commentary, specific agendas can be pushed by a sole individual and may not reflect a more popular belief by the residents of this community.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Saturday, May 26

A number of newsworthy items for Stuy Town/Peter Cooper tenants....

This week's Town & Village reported that we have a new general manager, Sean Sullivan, replacing Jim Yasser, who will stay on as a consultant. Sullivan is "a former Marine and 20-year real estate veteran who previously worked for Avalon Bay Communities, Inc. as well as Tishman Speyer." Yes, Tishman Speyer, but not to worry, Sullivan wasn't working for TS during that company's reign here. Still, a small world, at least in Manhattan. Sullivan is quoted in the article, from an official CW Capital/Rose Associates statement: "Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town is celebrated for its strong sense of community within this city. I am proud and honored to join the effort to make PCVST a place that this community is happy to call home." I'm not sure about our current "strong sense of community." Nowadays, this complex seems made up of various differing and at times mutually combative communities. It's not the homogeneous one it was years ago. The internet tells us that "Mr. Sullivan received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English Literature
from Iona College, graduating summa cum laude and ranking first in his
class. He went on to receive his Master of Science degree in Real Estate
Finance at New York University." Yes, a small world in Manhattan! This blog wishes Sean Sullivan success in ensuring that this community, or these communities, are happy to call this place home.

* * *

The official word finally arrived about the landscaping that's already started about the complex and which this blog previewed in past entries. Here's some of the work:

Temporary fencing will be installed around newly seeded areas until the turf is well-rooted and dense (approximately 4 months).

New planting beds will receive 28” black, PVC-coated, welded wire fence for about two years until the plantings are well-rooted and established enough to withstand the abuse from dogs and foot traffic.

Approximate total number of new plants added as part of Phase 1: 1,500 Trees, Shrubs, Grasses, and Perennials and over 100,000 groundcovers.

Approximate number of plants to be transferred within the property and off-site. Approximate number to be transferred within:

Town & Village speculates at the transformation occurring to the former Oval Lounge. For some reason this is a semi-official secret, but various clues point to a new entity: Oval Cafe. (The official PCVST website mentioned an "Oval Cafe" a while ago.) T&V notes that "an employee at Oval Amenities said this week that whatever the space winds up being used for, it will be open to all residents." While this is a smart idea, it will mark, if true, the first time that a commercial enterprise will be open permanently and daily inside Stuy Town. So the slippery slope that some warned about with the introduction of temporary commercial enterprises (the greenmarket, the ice-rink) may now come to pass.

* * *

Town & Village also did a survey of some residents to find out their top concerns. The proposed condo/co-op conversion was on people's minds, with a good number of those queried about it, balking at getting involved as buyers. Remarkably, a few dog owners are disappointed about the lack of a dog run in PCVST. What, most of the grounds being at the disposal to you and your dogs is not enough?

* * *

Boy, the powers that be love their students (and want to fill up Oval Fitness)! The push is on to give students discounts for membership at Oval Fitness....

* * *

The Oval Lawn is now open, as is Playground 10 (with new astro turf). Enjoy, though beware that starting Wednesday, June 6th, the Oval will be periodically taken over by movie showings, an outdoor screening of a baseball game, and, yes, concerts. Residents may wish to plan ahead, either for attending these events or, if they live around the Oval, leaving the complex for some peace and quiet. Rumor is that some residents are planning rain dances early morning on the day a concert is scheduled.

* * *

The other day I did spot Public Safety talking to two dog owners who may have been disobeying a dog rule near the fountain area, or about to disobey one. So the stepped-up effort is appreciated.

* * *

I had to laugh at this one. In a previous post I remarked how the "For Residents and Their Guests" tag on the greenmarket promo banners could be hidden if the plantings in front grew high enough. I was kinda joking.... Well, the plantings in front of the banner near the Peter Cooper Village guardbooth, already hide the information! The tag is clearly visible on all other banners, btw.

* * *

This Saturday morning TA president Al Doyle and our councilman Dan Garodnick
turned up at the Oval Fountain to have their picture taken. What, no photos at Garodnick Boulevard? (Garodnick Boulevard is the lengthy patch of newly-placed gravel on which sits the greenmarket every Sunday and which has been named in honor of our councilman, soon to be city comptroller.)

* * *

Speaking of that area, I do like the bamboo sticks and string that have been placed on the other side of the fence along Garodnick Boulevard. (Don't laugh, I'm serious.) They partition off the area in a pleasing rustic way. I almost expect to see sheep nearby. I'll try to get a better picture. Or maybe not.

27 comments:

Anonymous
said...

You describe Garodnicj as "soon tobeController" thereby assuming he will get enough votes. I won't be voting for him and I know many of my neighbors who won't vote for him. He does not deserve our votes.

Being an attorney, a neighbor and a City Council member does not automatically qualify one for Comptroller. The proposed Garodnick trajectory is obvious. He will do 8 years, if necessary, as Comptroller and then on to running for Mayor or other higher office.

Mr. Garodnick has advocated for the community on many issues but he has also demonstrated a notable lack of firmness in his backbone on other issues, particularly the greenmarket and, to some extent, the Oval rink where, for the first time ever, residents are charged for use of playground space.

Assuming he gets the nomination, I don't know yet if he will get my vote for Comptroller. But his actions regarding the greenmarket will weigh heavily on that decision. After all, if he can't maintain a principled position and stand up to the likes of TS, CW and Rose, how can you expect him to be principled and stand up to the really big guys that the Comptroller deals with?

"He doesn't deserve your votes???? What? He's a neighbor, he's advocated for us, he's qualified...why are you being so spiteful and petty?"

So you vote for him. I happen to think he has done very little for this community. He's too interested in a conversion to really take on Rose and CW over QOL issues. Fat lot of good he did as an advocate over the illegal greenmarket and illegal ice skating rink.

I think that Garodnick is a nice guy and certainly personable. That doesn't mean that he's the right person to hold a higher position in NY politics, where you have to be a bit a of bastard, if not more than that, to deal with monied interests.

But I do look askew at Garodnick for other things not yet mentioned here, and they have to do with Manhattan in general, not Stuy Town. His strong advocacy for the 2nd Ave subway has been a concern, as the subway has not been planned out well, and is already years late in the making, over-budget and a disaster to the communities it's being built through. Then there's his vote to let a real estate giant (that's now contributed heavily to his campaign) build a mammoth skyscraper in the center of midtown, a building that will block out one view of the iconic Empire State Building and alter the picture postcard look of Manhattan forever. Just on that issue, I will not vote for him for any office.

Bloomberg is determined to crush all small businesses in New York. They are going the way of the dinosaur and the 2nd Ave subway work is a way of destroying a whole bunch of them all in the same neighborhood.

Just in fairness, the 2nd Ave Subway had little to do with Garodnick save for the fact that he represented the district during it's construction. Remember, they started digging the tunnel when ? 1970's ? It's been forever. And BTW, I think it should have been built to run the whole length of the island. The Lex is far too overcrowded. They should have found the money to do it all at once. Yes, it would have been a major disruption, but would have been a serious benefit to the island, way more than the bike lanes.

But I think everyone should be careful about supporting a politician who seems to mostly provide lip service to the community and certainly seems more interested in self aggrandizement before our interests at large. He sold out Stuy on pressure walls, Greenmarket and almost every other QOL issue that's been brought to his office, and I'm now supposed to assume that he has the best interests of the community as a whole going forward ??? And he and his family live in Cooper, so why does he give a crap what happens in the Oval ?

I don't understand what you want. You don't want a subway, you don't want a farmers market, you don't want your own neighbor as your comptroller. Do you like anything? Seriously, do you like ANYTHING about this place?

BTW, how do you think subways get built??? They don't magically happen. My italian descendants help build the subway. My grandfather used to bring his father his lunch in the tunnels. It does take some serious infrastructure disturbance for a while to create a better city.

MOVE away if you don't want it. You're only going to get more miserable. It's done, it's here and you really need to face reality. Your old world is over. Seriously, you all are acting so bitter and malcontent. Just enjoy life, it's rally not that bad.

Anon 5:32... You must not read this blog well if you think I don't like living here. Even in the post that these comments are responding to, I've stated positive things about the complex. And, yes, I like those bamboo posts with a string running through them. So there! You also should note the photographs that I've taken throughout the years of the foliage and flowers here, and my outspokenness about keeping the natural, non-commercial elements of this complex in place, so that residents can find this a true oasis in Manhattan.

But you want to spin this in one way, to the extreme, and so you invalidate whatever points you wish to make. You also seem to be unaware of the fight that goes on in New York over affordable housing and keeping a New York spirit alive, a spirit which I suspect is a little too gritty and unclean for your tastes. Either that, or you are a shill, and the same one (a single one) that's been making similar extreme comments on this blog. Considering how distasteful it must be for you to read the blog and many of its comments, why do you persist in wasting your time this way, in obvious pain?

STR--I have interpreted your photos to show petty complaints like, "look--the fence is crooked," or "see the color of that gravel, it should be brown, not white!" or posting photos of other residents sunbathing, without getting their permission first.

If you meant them as paeons to Stuytown, I take it back, but I don't read a lot of love from the people here. Just complaints.

You are right though, why do I keep reading? Maybe I am an optimist and am hoping I can get you all to see some sort of positive in your life and our home? Or just a masochist, lol.

>>STR--I have interpreted your photos to show petty complaints like, "look--the fence is crooked," or "see the color of that gravel, it should be brown, not white!" or posting photos of other residents sunbathing, without getting their permission first.<<

I'm not aware of posting photos of just residents sunbathing, unless they are in the background to the photo I want.

Regarding crooked fence posts, etc, surely these are nuanced comments and should be taken as such. I don't believe in the darkest black or the brightest white. The fencing needs to be there (a regrettable positive), but some of the posts have been sloppily positioned (an unfortunate negative). Same with the gravel at the farmers market. Something needed to be done to that space, which looked ugly and low-class, and something was done (a positive), but it did mandate a permanent and unfortunate change in the history of the Oval Lawn (a negative). I'm trying to advance my opinions with both the good and the bad, if possible.

I, for one, think anyone who's against mass transit is a total idiot. The 2nd Ave subway might cost too much, might take too long, and might be disruptive while its being built, but will make this neighborhood vastly more livable for all residents.

It will make this neighborhood more livable for ALL residents how? Get your ass walking to the Lex line or the L line if you have to use a subway. Or take a bus. Or bike around.

You are also unaware of the dynamics in regard to mom-and-pop stores and tenant rents once a neighborhood goes "upscale" with a new subway line. First, mom-and-pop stores and small restaurants along 2nd Ave have great difficulty in staying alive during this massive and long disruption while the 2nd Ave subway is being built. Some are closing down. Once they close down, the entity who owns that store/building goes "upscale," perhaps even bulldozing the building and putting in a sliver monstrosity with a Starbucks, Duane Reade and Citibank/Chase on the ground floor. This is what Manhattan is turning into, if you haven't noticed.

Hey, STR, I'm with you. That subway is a disaster. I spend a good piece of time on the ues and it has destroyed lives and businesses.

To your other point, after spending the last 25 years of my life as a pedestrian, I just bought a bike and i love it. I feel like a kid again. More people should do it and maybe they will now that lord Bloomberg has annointed the new citibike program. But that's another issue.....

Hall of Shame Award to CWCapital from Stuy Town And Peter Cooper Village Tenants

Awarded for the Roberts Settlement Massacre, in which many tenants received mid-lease rent increases from hundreds to over a thousand dollars, compelling tenants to examine the need to move out with their families at short notice. Doubly awarded for the Oval Park Massacre, in which healthy trees were cut down and plantings viciously uprooted to make way for an institutionalized look of order.

Thinking of Renting in PCVST?

Read Yelp reviews to find out what it's like living here. Please note: As of May 16, there is a suspicius intrusion of what appear to be positive reviews appearing on the PCVST Yelp page that are sourced from a "rewards program" set up by the landlord.

The Other Yelp Reviews

Yelp can be tricky and bounce reviews for a variety of reasons, like being a member and posting just one review. Very often, however, these reviews hold important truths about what's being reviewed. READ THESE TOO.

Banned Dog Breeds in Stuy Town

Cute rottweiler. But... looks like there is some difficulty in enforcing the ban on certain dog breeds allowed inside Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village. Somehow pitbulls and pitbull mixes have been registered in STPCV and are allowed to be freely walked about the grounds! Another fail of enforcing the rules around here? You decide!

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Stuyvesant Town Newsreel

Read it and Weep

Current Value of ST/PCV

Was 5.4 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer bought the place.Became 1.7 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer left, with their tail between their legs.Current estimate? Over 2 Billion?

Ex-landlord

Rob Speyer

1947 Stuy Town Plaque Honoring Met Life Chairman F.H. Ecker (Removed in 2002 and never seen again)

"... who with the vision of experience and the energy of youth conceived and brought into being this project, and others like it, that families of moderate means might live in health, comfort and dignity in park-like communities and that a pattern might be set of private enterprise productively devoted to public service."

Co-op/Condo Conversions

Non-Eviction Conversion:
Requires commitment from purchasers for 15% of the apartments. Both rent regulated and market rate tenants are given the opportunity to purchase. Rent regulated tenants cannot be evicted because they choose not to buy. However, the owner is not required to offer a lease renewal to market-rate tenants.
Eviction Conversion:
Requires written commitment from 51% of the tenants in occupancy. All tenants are given the opportunity to purchase. Those who choose not to can be evicted. For rent stabilized tenants who choose not to purchase, they can be evicted within 3 years after the plan is declared effective. However, rent stabilized tenants who are disabled or senior citizens are exempt from eviction. Market rate tenants can be evicted at the end of their lease. Less likely conversion tactic. [The TA insists that any plan they support will be non-eviction.]

I am writing on behalf of everyone at Tishman Speyer to express how honored we are to become part of your outstanding community. We are a business with deep roots in New York, a true love of our city and a great respect for the neighborhoods that make it special. We are committed to maintaining the unique character and environment that have made Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town such a wonderful place to live for so long. We look forward to providing you an extraordinary level of service and attentiveness that will be the source of pride and satisfaction for the entire community.

Neighborhood Recommendations

New to Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village? Here are some basic recommendations.

Best supermarket: Associated on 14th St. between 1st Ave. and Ave A. The cheapest prices, fantastic weekly sales, very affordable lunches; solid, responsive management. Some of the young female cashiers have attitude to spare, though. May be too far for Peter Cooper residents.

Best deli: A Stuy Town favorite is Lenz's on 20 St. between the 20 St. Loop. The way New York used to be. Be careful of unwanted "pepper" in your food, however. Lenz's has a B grade rating and was temporarily closed down due to an order from the Health Department. Bruno's on First Avenue is more upscale, with a greater selection of food items (higher-priced, too), but was closed down by the Health Department in June.

Best post office: Forget it! The post office on 14th St. is generally a nightmare, with long lines and, now, even shorter hours.

Disappointments:

The Stuy Town Starbucks on First Ave. is not very cozy, and the music in the morning is too loud and uptempo. Gently awaken the souls off to work....

More recommendations to come!

Macular Degeneration Support Group

If you are currently diagnosed with Macular Degeneration, the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary is offering a support group for you. Conveniently located next to the Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town apartment complex, our group offers the opportunity to share stories with other members, listen to expert guest speakers, and learn coping strategies to reduce stress. Our group runs on the first Wednesday of every month and we would enjoy seeing you there.
Please contact Baptiste Nicolas, Social Work Assistant at 212-979-4105 for further information and to see if this group is right for you!